New Suzuki Swift: recognizably different

The current generation Suzuki Swift made its public debut in the last month of 2016, although European consumers would not see the Swift until March 2017 during the Geneva Motor Show. The Swift has now been on the market for five years and Suzuki has been thinking about a successor for some time. This test model, photographed in Spain, proves that Suzuki remains faithful to the well-known Swift concept.

The current generation of Suzuki Swift.

It is obvious that Suzuki is sticking to certain Swift elements that the brand introduced in 2004 on the then third generation Swift for Europe. The new model also appears to have a ‘convex’ windscreen and a roof that extends relatively far forward as a result. This new Swift is still fanatically in the camouflage patches, but we can already see that the design of the rear in particular is also an evolution of what has broadly characterized the Swift for about eighteen years. The C-pillar handles of the rear doors as you see on the current Swift, however, do not seem to return.

From this angle, the new Suzuki Swift is clearly recognizable as Swift.

The new Swift will have a relatively low front again, but the design of the Swift muzzle will be overhauled. For example, the new model gets a so-called clamshellhood, one that more or less folds down at the edges. The optical distance between bonnet and headlights seems greater than on any other Swift generation.

Under the new body is probably a further developed version of the Heartect platform that the current series of Suzukis use. We aim for the Swift to be available again with mild-hybrid petrol engines, although you should not be surprised if Suzuki also gets the new hybrid powertrain that was recently introduced in the Vitara and S-Cross. We also expect a Sport variant of the new Swift. The current Swift Sport has a 140 hp 1.4 as a power plant. Elsewhere in the world one can also expect a new Dzire, the sedan version of the Swift that is not supplied here.

Suzuki Dzire, the sedan version of the Swift.

Suzuki Swift in the Netherlands

Since the launch of the first generation Suzuki Swift on the Dutch market in 1984, about 161,000 Swifts have been sold in our country. This makes it the best-selling model series of the brand after the Alto. The distance to the next most popular Suzuki is immense. In third place is the Wagon R+ of which about 27,000 units have been sold in the Netherlands. Unfortunately for Suzuki, Swift sales aren’t what they used to be. For example, in the late eighties to the mid nineties and between 2006 and 2012, more than 5,000 copies were sold almost every year. Since 2019, Swift annual sales have not exceeded 3,000 units. Last year 1,786 new Suzuki Swifts left the Dutch dealers.